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“Papa!” she calls. “What happened to your gardeners?”
“Hello, Koala.” Walter struggles to cut another twig off one of the bushes before he turns to her. “This? This isn’t gardening. It’s therapy.”
She chuckles with relief. “Sure looks like gardening from where I’m standing.”
“The professionals are coming soon. I hope. They never tell me. But it’s vital to prune back the junipers and the yews at this time of year. Helps with new growth.”
Holly extends a hand to him. “How about you take a break and let me have a little therapy?”
“I’m never one to turn down free help,” he says, as he hands her the shears and then carefully lowers himself onto the portable chair that he set up beside the shrub.
Holly opens the blades over a bushy branch and clips the twigs and leaves. She trims a little more before she says, “I’m not sure if I can trust Aaron.”
Walter chuckles. “Why didn’t we have this conversation ten years ago?”
“No, not as a husband,” she says as she continues to prune while speaking over her shoulder. “I found out yesterday that Liisa called his office on the day she disappeared.”
“The psychologist?”
“Yup. The one who was trying to sabotage my group from the inside, trying to convince the other women that I might have molested them under ketamine. And now Liisa is missing.”
“This group of yours.” He groans. “And why would Liisa call your husband?”
“No idea. When I confronted him, Aaron claimed he didn’t speak to her. That he wasn’t even aware she called.”
“And what do you believe?”
Holly cuts aggressively at a thicker branch, satisfied by the crisp snap it makes before it topples to the ground beside her foot. “Aaron taught Liisa years ago. He thinks she might have deliberately reached out to him through his office number, knowing the call would be traced.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Honestly, at this point, I don’t trust my intuition. That’s why I’ve come to you.” She lowers the shears and turns to face him. “There’s something else, too. Remember how someone broke into my car?”
“The wandering glasses case, right?”
She nods. “Whoever did it probably used a key. I had mine with me the whole time. But I remember now that I left my spare key at Aaron’s when I moved out.”
The wrinkles around Walter’s eyes crease so deeply that his eyes turn to slits. “Why would Aaron break into your car?”
“Good question.” She sighs. “Besides, he wasn’t the only one with access. His son has free rein of the house, too.”
“Oh. The problem child.”
“I wouldn’t put it past Graham at all. He’s toxic. Always looking for an angle. Always looking for someone else to blame for his personal failings.”
“Have you gone to the police?”
She nods. “Detective Rivers was the one who told me about Liisa’s phone call to Aaron’s office.”
Walter’s intense blue eyes fix on her for a long silent moment. “No,” he finally says.
“No what?”
“I don’t think you can trust Aaron.”
She sighs. “Me, neither.”
“Time for a tea break,” Walter says as he pushes himself to his feet and turns toward the house.
